Happy (low-cal) New Year’s!

Written by Barbie Broschart   

As we approach New Year’s, people always ask me what my drink of choice is. I love a good bubbly! Besides being low in calories, champagne seems to make me giggly and happy. But I need to be careful though because too much champagne bloats my belly and makes my head scream the next day.

On New Year’s since most of us know we’ll be having more than the recommended one drink, try to drink things that are lower in calories. Red wine is probably my favorite drink; it’s warm, yummy, and can be heart-protective. But on New Year’s I try to avoid red lips, unless the color’s coming from my lipstick! So instead, I go with vodka, club soda, and a splash of cranberry (sounds like a ladies drink, but the guys dig it, too).

Here’s a round-up of the number of calories in different popular drinks. Read through before you choose what you’ll be having tomorrow night — you might be shocked by some of the numbers!

All calorie counts are based on a 6-ounce beverage:

Champagne: 120 calories, 0 g fat, 1.5 g carbohydrate

Red or White Wine: About 150 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g carbohydrate

Vodka, club soda, splash of cranberry: 135 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g carbohydrate

Mojito: 255 calories, 0 g fat, 10.5 g carbohydrate

Cosmopolitan: 315 calories, 0 g fat, 20.5 g carbohydrate

Jack n’ Coke: 210 calories, 0 g fat, 15 g carbohydrate

Gin n’ Tonic: 150 calories, 0 g fat, 12 g carbohydrate

Captain n’ Ginger: 165 calories, 0 g fat, 13 g carbohydrate

Appletini: 250 calories, 0 g fat, 20.5 g carbohydrate

Margarita: 280 calories, 0 g fat, 13.5 g carbohydrate

Tequila shot (1 ounce): 65 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g carbohydrate

Drink wisely (and safely, of course)!